Normally holiday weekends are when studios roll out some of their biggest movies, but Labor Day is pretty much the stepchild of these occasions, as the fact some States don’t recognise it and that it comes just before kids go back to school, mean it isn’t seen as a good time to bring out big movies.

It means that The Possession, which took $21.3 million over the four-day weekend, is the second-biggest Labor Day total ever. It’s an okay but not stunning start for the Sam Raimi produced horror movie, but as mentioned, it’s good for a Labor Day weekend.

The only other new opener in the top 10 was Lawless, which took second spot with $13.0 million over the weekend, and $15 million since it opened in the middle of last week. It’s not a particularly brilliant start considering the cast (Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy etc.) and good reviews, but period movies often have difficulty getting a foothold. However if word of mouth is good, it’ll hopefully hold up over the coming weeks.

Perhaps the biggest box office news came at the other end of the chart, where the children’s movie Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure (a Tweenies/Teletubbies style endeavour with people in big foam suits), earned an abysmal $445,000. That’s the worst opening ever for a movie opening on over 2,000 screens, and the second worst per screen average ever for a nationwide release. It’s been estimated that on average, there were less than two people per screening.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 31st-September 3rd.

There’s been little cheer at the US box office, due to what was easily the lowest grossing weekend of 2012 so far. The problem was that the holdovers weren’t that strong, while the new entries barely made a dent. The Expendables 2 stayed top of the list with $13.5 million, a 53% drop on its first weekend takings, so that it’s now noticeably trailing the take of the first film in the franchise.

The top new entry could only place seventh on the list, with the Joseph Gordon Levitt action flick Premium Rush taking just $6.3 million. It’s a very weak start and some are blaming a rather lacklustre marketing campaign, as the film has had pretty good reviews and many believe that with the right push it could have done a lot better.

After expanding onto 1,091 screens, the documentary 2016 Obama’s America made its first appearance in the top 10 in eighth place, taking $6.2 million. It’s now the highest grossing documentary of the year and the highest ever for a political doc that takes a conservative viewpoint – in case you were wondering, the film doesn’t think America will be in a good place in 2016 if Obama gets elected for a second term.

The only other new entry in the top 10 is the Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell and Bradley Cooper comedy Hit & Run, which took a lowly $4.6 million. The only redeeming factor for that is that it’s believed it only cost a couple of million to make. And while horror is normally seen as a fairly sure thing at the box office, The Apparition couldn’t even make it into a very weak top 10, placing 12th with a lowly $2.9 million.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 24th-26th.

The Bourne Legacy got off to a decent start at the US box office, scoring a $40 million three-day opening. That’s less than the previous Bourne sequels, but that’s not surprising considering the lack of Matt Damon in this one, but it’s still ahead of the first film, which took $27 million on its first weekend. The real question is whether the movie will have legs, which remains to be seen, but the film has had okay reviews and may well do well in the coming weeks.

The Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis political comedy The Campaign came second with an okay but not spectacular $27 million. It’s good news for Ferrell, whose last couple of movies have severely underperformed at the box office (neither Case De Mi Padre or Everything Must Go passed $3 million on their openings).

The only other new entry was Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as a married couple looking to spice up their lives. It took $15.6 million over the weekend and $20 million since it hit cinema last Wednesday. It’s not a terrible opening, but with Steve Carell also starring, the studio was probably hoping for a little bit more.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 10th-12th.

Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell seems a bit of a dream cast, although the jury is still out on the film they all appear in, Hope Springs. Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) are a devoted couple, but decades of marriage have left Kay wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her husband. When she hears of a renowned couple’s specialist (Steve Carell) in the small town of Great Hope Springs, she attempts to persuade her skeptical husband, a steadfast man of routine, to get on a plane for a week of marriage therapy. Just convincing the stubborn Arnold to go on the retreat is hard enough – the real challenge for both of them comes as they shed their bedroom hang-ups and try to re-ignite the spark that caused them to fall for each other in the first place. No UK release date is currently set.